At the Chicago Sun-Times, Lewis Lazare doesn’t usually have breaking news, but today he’s got an exclusive story:
United Airlines will stun the ad world today when it shifts its advertising account from Fallon/Minneapolis — its home for a decade — to a startup boutique agency, Barrie D’Rozario Murphy/Minneapolis.
United now will become the new shop’s flagship account. Per United Senior Vice President of Marketing Dennis Cary, the shift to BDM was designed to ensure the airline’s forceful and wonderfully sophisticated “It’s Time to Fly” ad campaign is sustained at the high level it has been at since being launched three years ago.
Cary is convinced the airline made the right move to go with BDM for its creative. Two of the principals in the new agency, Stuart D’Rozario and Bob Barrie, were instrumental in the original creation of the United campaign when they were top creatives at Fallon. Both Barrie and D’Rozario left Fallon some six months ago. David Murphy, former president of Saatchi & Saatchi/Los Angeles, recently announced he would join Barrie and D’Rozario.
Wow. From what I’ve always heard, Bob Barrie is a class act, so I think this is great news. Account people seem like they’re always the ones who lure accounts away with established client relationships, so it’s interesting to see an account move along with the creatives who’ve worked on it. Although it might be extra chilly in the Minneapolis ad scene today, as sometimes happens when accounts move with people.
UPDATE: Read the Press Release here.
I worked with Stuart D’Rosario for several years at Arnold, and can tell you he’s one class act, too. Smart, talented, and an extremely nice guy.
My own recent flight experiences were highly
miscalculated. People were actually lined up
and waiting in terminals to fly United. At
first I thought it was a delay–but “No”–
it was passengers lining up waiting to take
any flight they could get to travel to their
respective destinations. Winding around O’Hare
Airport people were cracking jokes (and gum) while waiting patiently for a flight to be
ready for them. I had never experienced anything
like that! People were making offers to get to
the front of line. Of course, I held on to my
own ticket firmly. Eventually my flight took off
on schedule and I embarked hours later in Los
Angeles with the same eager lines awaiting there
too. Pushing my way past them, after sharing a
sandwich with a famous chef from Chicago who made
sandwiches from his own receipes I felt ready to
embrance the “City of Angels.”